Hemming machine

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises a semi-automatic machine for folding cloth pieces, stitching the folded cloth pieces to form hems thereon, and stacking the stitched pieces into bundles for further processing. In the preferred embodiment the hemming machine utilizes form plates situated just above a conveyor to fold the cloth pieces progressively as they approach the sewing needle. At the sewing needle, a second conveyor, running at a slightly higher linear speed, takes up the folded cloth pieces thereby stretching them to remove unwanted wrinkles and assure an even, smooth stitched hem. The second conveyor carries the cloth pieces to an unloading and stacking mechanism which removes the cloth pieces from the conveyor and flips them over onto a bundle which can then be ejected from the machine periodically.

Umted States Patent 1191 1111 3,850,121 Speer [4 Nov. 26, 1974 HEMMING MACHINE 3,577,665 5/1971 Kamberg 38/2 [75] n entor: Billy Logan Spg campb e 3,611,961 /1971 Lopez et a1. 1. 112/203 X Primary Examiner-Werner H. Schroeder [73] Assignee: IS(pear Systems, Inc., Campbellsville, Attorney, Agent, or FirmFarley, Forster and Farley [22] Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 1 ABSTRACT 21 A L N 304 064 The invention comprises a semi-automatic machine 1 pp 0 for folding cloth pieces, stitching the folded cloth ieces to form hems thereon, and stackin the stitched 1 Cl 112/203 gieces into bundles for further processing. In the pre- [51] It. C1 D051) 35/02 fen-ed mbodiment the hemming machine utilizes Fleld of Search..... 1l2/l21- form plates situated just above a conveyor to fold the cloth pieces progressively as they approach the sewing 270/68 R needle. At the sewing needle, a second conveyor, running at a slightly higher linear speed, takes up the References Cited folded cloth pieces thereby stretching them to remove UNITED STATES PATENTS unwanted wrinkles and assure an even, smooth 14,475 3/1856 Singer 112/208 Stitched The Second Conveyor carries the cloth 2,940,404 6/1960 Damon 112/10 pieces to an unloading and Stacking mechanism which 3,126,848 3/1964 Gastonguay 112/121.29 x removes the cloth pieces from the conveyor and flips 3,155,221 11/1964 Griner 198/76 X them over onto a bundle which can then be ejected 3,192,885 7/1965 Timm ll2/l2l.15 from the machine periodically, 3,296,986 1 1967 Gansl 112 121.15 3,481,292 12 1969 Danahy 112 121.15 10 Claims, 10 Drawlng figures f Z/Gfi/TJ //04 /d4 6077364 MOll/Vfl/V6 fig l Nfffllf m u 22 :0 1 3 29 a m m I'V/ 5PT T'T |24 J 32 6 w I .9 J1? i g :g% fi fll il ju 1 J 'J'4\: 4

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PATENTEL NW 2 6 I974 SHEET 2 BF 4 FIG.2

HEMMING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to the field of sewing pieces of cloth, in particular, hem stitching the sleeves of garments prior to attaching the sleeves to the garments. As is well known, a variety of stitching patterns may be utilized to hem stitch a sleeve. The hem is folded prior to stitching in a manner appropriate to the particular hem stitch that is put on the sleeve. On a mass production basis, the folding and stitching are preferably done automatically with the operator of the machine merely placing and positioning the sleeve pieces on the conveyor in a manner that allows the machine to fold the cloth properly and stitch the hem. Typically, the prior art machines include a single belt conveyor which carries the cloth pieces past compressed air jets or blower nozzles situated to fold a portion of each cloth piece about form plates to form the hem prior to passage on the conveyor past the sewing needle which automatically stitches the folded cloth hem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention comprises a semi-automatic machine for folding cloth pieces, stitching the folded portion of each cloth piece to form the hem thereon and stacking the stitched pieces into bundles for further processing. The hemming machine is adapted to utilize conventional sewing machines with the proper hem stitching attachments and photocell controlled conventional cutters for separating the sewn threads between sequential pieces of cloth stitched by the sewing machine. In the preferred embodiment the hemming machine utilizes form plates situated just above a conveyor to fold the cloth pieces progressively as they approach the sewing needle. At the sewing needle a second conveyor, running at a slightly higher speed, takes up the folded cloth pieces, thereby stretching them progressively to remove unwanted wrinkles and assure an even, smooth stitched hem. The second conveyor carries the cloth pieces into an unloading and stacking mechanism which removes them from the conveyor and upon a signal from a second photocell control flips them over onto a bundle which can then be ejected machine completes the hemming and stacking with the operator merely ejecting completed bundles periodically.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the hemming machine;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the hemming machine taken from the direction 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top elevation of the form plates suspended above the conveyor;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the form plates in assembled position; I

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the form plates in exploded view;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross section of the form plates and cloth taken at line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross section of the form plates and cloth taken at line 7-7 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross section of the form plates and cloth taken at line 88 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross section of the form plates and cloth taken at line 9-9 of FIG. 3; and,

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross section of the form plates and cloth taken at line 10-10 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIGS. 1 and 2, a steel table 10 suitably provides a supporting base for the hemming machine. Extending from the left end of the table 10 in FIG. 1 is a supporting bracket 12 and downwardly extending steel plate 14, which, in turn, supports a treadle I6 and treadle valve 18 located for ease of operation by the feet of the hemming machine operator. Mounted on the bracket 12 is a first belt conveyor 20 extending from conveyor roller 22 to conveyor roller 24. The upper flight of the conveyor 20 moves to the right on a supporting plate 26 having gaps 28 and 30 for the passage of the conveyor 20 onto the rollers 22 and 24. The operator who sits in front of the treadle 16 places the pieces of cloth on the conveyor 20 as will be further explained below. A second conveyor 32 extends between conveyor rollers 34 and 36, the upper flight of which moves also to the right on a supporting plate 38. Cloth pieces leaving conveyor 20 are picked up by conveyor 32 and moved into the unloader and stacker generally denoted by in FIG. 1.

A bracket 42 is fastened to the table 10 to support a speed reducer with variable speed pulleys connected to conveyor 32 which enables the belt speed of conveyor 32 to be adjusted relative to the belt speed of conveyor 20. A bracket 44 is also attached to the table 10 to support an electric motor and clutch to drive conveyor 20 andthe speed reducer attached to bracket 42. A third bracket 46 extending outwardly from the drawing and attached to the table 10 supports a sewing machine also driven by the electric motor mounted on the bracket 44 and speed reducer on bracket 42. Thus conveyor 20, the sewing machine and conveyor 32 are all driven by a single motor located on the bracket 44. The treadle l6 and treadle valve 18 control the clutch on the electric motor. As further explained below, the speed reducer mounted on the bracket 42 normally will be set to produce a conveyor speed for conveyor 32 and operating speed for the hemming head needle at the location indicated by the line 48 slightly in excess of the conveyor speed for conveyor 20. The motor, speed reducer and sewing machine are items well known in the art and omitted from the drawings to enhance the clarity of the novel hem producing features of the hemming machine. Each of the conveyor rollers 22, 24, 34 and 36 is cantilever mounted on shafts 50 in turn supported on brackets 52 and pads 54 in a conventional manner.

lift plate 58 is attached by a bracket 62 to the bracket 12 at the leftmost end of the hemming machine. The lift plate 58 gradually rises toward the right as it approaches the needle at 48. As indicated in FIG. 3, the first conveyor 20 extends under the lift plate at 64 and pieces of cloth are placed by the operator on the conveyor 20 with a portion, usually about half in the case of short sleeves, resting upon the lift plate 58. The conveyor 20 carries each cloth piece rightwardly and the portion of the cloth on the lift plate is gradually lifted upwardly until it is about one-half to three-fourths of an inch above the form plate 60. The form plate 60 is suspended from the conveyors 20 and 32 by studs 68 which in turn are fastened to brackets 70 with double nuts 72. The brackets 70 in turn are fastened behind and below the conveyors to the table as best shown in FIG. 1. The lift plate 58 is suitably fastened at the right end 74 to the end of the conveyor support plate 26. The form plate 60 is supported above the conveyors and 32 with sufficient clearance for the portion of the cloth piece that is on conveyor 20 to pass below. The form plate includes an angular edge 66 which causes a portion of the cloth piece to be progressively pushed under the lift plate 58. This progressive folding action is best shown by the sequence of schematics in FIGS. 6 thru 10.

In FIG. 6, a typical piece of cloth 76 is placed on the conveyor 20 and the lift plate 58 as shown. In FIG. 7, as the piece of cloth 76 moves along the conveyor, the right hand portion 78 passes beneath the form plate 60 while the left hand portion 80 is lifted by the lift plate 58. As shown in FIG. 8, the edge 66 causes the cloth piece 76 to be progressively folded underneath the lift plate 58 by gently pulling a portion of the cloth 80 partially from the lift plate 58. The form plate 60* includes a tongue 82 extending angularly therefrom to provide an extension of the edge 66. In FIG. 9 the tongue 82 continues to tuck under the cloth portion 80; however, a second tongue 84 sloping downwardly as a continuation of the lift plate 58 retains a portion of the cloth 80 above while the left hand edge 86 of the cloth piece drops downwardly. At this point the cloth piece 76 is passing from the left hand conveyor 20 to the right hand conveyor32. The tongue 82 attached to the form plate 60 directs the lower folded portion of the cloth piece toward the needle as best shown in FIG. 3 so that, as shown in FIG. 10, the leftmost edgeof the cloth 86 has dropped onto theportion of the cloth folded by the tongue 82 in proper alignment for the path of the needle as shown by 48. The rightmost portion of the cloth piece 78 is supported by the conveyor 32 at this point stacking rollers 110 are continuously rotated by a separate electric motor 114 and belt drive 116. The photocell located at 90 causes, by means of a conventional electro pneumatic control, the air cylinders to lift the idler rollers 96 from the stacking rollers and thereby allow each piece of cloth 76 to pass therebetween. As the photocell 90 senses the following piece of cloth, the air cylinder at 108 is released, the idler rollers 96 drop toward contact with the stacking rollers 110 gripping the cloth piece therebetween and pulling it perpendicularly from the conveyor 32. As will be noted from FIG. 2, the hemmed edge of the cloth piece approaches the idler rollers 96 and is pulled onto the stacking rollers 110 by the conveyor 32, as shown by the location of the needle 48 therebeyond.

Each cloth piece ejected by the rollers 96 and 110 slides down onto the stackers 118 and against the stop 120. The tongues 122 attached to the conveyor support plate 38 assure that the cloth piece moving along the conveyor 38 will be forced to ride up on top of the stacker rollers 110 when the idler rollers are raised and thereby assure that ejection by the idler rollers 96 will cause the cloth pieces to slide down on top of the stackers 118. The stackers 118 are pivoted on a shaft 124 in turn attached to the table frame 10 by brackets 126 in turn supporting pivot brackets 128. A second photocell mounted at in combination with a light source mounted at 132 actuates the pivot shaft 124 to rotate the stackers 118 thereattached, flipping over the cloth piece onto a bundle on the shelf 94. The actuation means comprises the air cylinder 134, having the piston and the leftmost portion 86 including the fold below is I supported by the platen of the sewing machine, as indi- 94 which cuts the sewn thread extending between sequential pieces of cloth-and created by the continuous operation of the sewing machine. The cloth pieces are carried beyond the cutter into the unloader and stacker 40 which operates to automatically unload each cloth piece from the conveyor 32 and stack the pieces in a bundle located on the shelf 94 which is attached to the table 10. In addition to controlling the thread cutter, the photocell at 90 also controls idler rollers 96 mounted on arms 98 in turn fastened to a pivot shaft 100. The pivot shaft 100 is supported in brackets 102 in turn fastened to stanchions 104 attached to the back of the table 10. Attached to the pivot 100 in a crank arm 106 and air cylinder means 107 adapted to lift the idler rollers 96 about three-fourths inch above the stacking rollers 110. The air cylinder 108 is pivotally attached at 112 to one of the stanchions 104. The

rod thereof 136 attached to a chain 138 in turn wrapped about a sprocket 140 attached to the end of the shaft 124. The other end of the chain 138 is attached to a spring 142 in turn attached at the other end to the table 10 by means of a bracket 144 which also holds the cylinder end of the cylinder 134 as shown best in FIG. 2. In relaxed position, as shown in FIG. 2, the stackers 118 include a second stop 146 which rests upon rubber blocks 148 in turn attached to the top of the table 10. Thus, as each piece of cloth slides down onto the stackers 118, the second photocell located at 130 electropneumatically actuates the cylinder 134 flipping the cloth piece over automatically. The light sources at 132 and 92 are mounted on a bracket frame 150 located above the unloader and stacker. These actuating sources may of course be positioned wherever appropriate depending upon the sizes of cloth pieces sewn and the proper timing required for operation which will depend partially upon the operating speed of the conveyor. In typical operation, the hemming machine will operate at a pace of l or 2 seconds per shirt sleeve.

Returning to the hemming operation per se at the location of the needle 48, the second conveyor 32 is preferably adjusted to operate at a linear speed approximately 5 percent greater than the linear speed of conveyor 20. As noted above the sewing machine is also operated at a linear speed of the cloth equal to the a speed of conveyor 32. The acceleration put upon the cloth as it passes from conveyor 20 to conveyor 32 removes wrinkles that may be in the cloth .just prior to that, in the sewing process, an extra fold is provided by the position of the portion of the cloth piece 80 relative to the rest of the cloth piece 78. As the cloth piece is carried along the conveyor 32 and is released from the extending tongue 84 of the lift plate 58, this portion of the cloth 80 will tend to flip over to the left and with engagement of the rollers 96 and 110 this unfolding will be assured. Thus, this particular form plate and lift plate provides a particular fold for the final hem. Periodically, the operator by means of a switch or button, not shown, but conveniently located can actuate a bundle mover 152 by means of an air cylinder and piston 154 positioned between the bundle mover 152 and the table 10. The bundle mover 152 will push bundles off the shelf 94 onto a portable receptacle, not shown, or other means of moving bundles from the hemming machine. The position of the bundle mover is best shown in FIG. 2 and has been deleted from FIG. 1 in order to permit clarification of the other mechanism.

I claim:

1. A hemming machine, comprising; means to convey a piece of cloth past sewing means, progressive folding means adjacent said conveyor means adapted to double fold an edge of the cloth piece prior to sewing, said folding means including progressive elevating means to lift an edge portion of the cloth piece, progressive forming means overlying and parallel to said conveyor having a marginal edge extending angularly to the path of said conveyor under said elevating means to double fold and tuck a portion of the cloth piece under said elevated edge portion of said cloth piece.

2. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said elevating means comprises a lift plate extending partially over and generally upwardly, along and parallel to said conveyor means and said forming means comprises a form plate located above said conveyor means and extending progressively under said lift plate.

3. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said conveyor means comprise at least two conveyors adapted to stretch the piece of cloth extending therebetween and thereby remove wrinkles.

4. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said conveyor means include at least two conveyors located in series, the second conveyor moving at a linear rate slightly in excess of the first conveyor to thereby stretch the piece of cloth and remove wrinkles.

5. The hemming machine of claim 1 including unloading means adjacent said conveyor means and adapted to remove cloth pieces from the conveyor means.

6. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein said unloading means include means to engage individual pieces of cloth and pull them from the conveyor means.

7. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein stacking means are located adjacent and unloading means and adapted to receive and stack the cloth pieces into a bundle.

8. The hemming machine of claim 7 wherein said stacking means include means to over turn each cloth piece onto the bundle and means to periodically unload each bundle from the stacking means.

9. The hemming machine of claim 7 wherein said stacking means include automatic means to sense the receipt of a cloth piece and actuate the stacking means.

10. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein said unloading means include automatic means to sense the passage of a cloth piece and actuate the unloading means. 

1. A hemming machine, comprising; means to convey a piece of cloth past sewing means, progressive folding means adjacent said conveyor means adapted to double fold an edge of the cloth piece prior to sewing, said folding means including progressive elevating means to lift an edge portion of the cloth piece, progressive forming means overlying and parallel to said conveyor having a marginal edge extending angularly to the path of said conveyor under said elevating means to double fold and tuck a portion of the cloth piece under said elevated edge portion of said cloth piece.
 2. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said elevating means comprises a lift plate extending partially over and generally upwardly, along and parallel to said conveyor means and said forming means comprises a form plate located above said conveyor means and extending progressively under said lift plate.
 3. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said conveyor means comprise at least two conveyors adapted to stretch the piece of cloth extending therebetween and thereby remove wrinkles.
 4. The hemming machine of claim 1 wherein said conveyor means include at least two conveyors located in series, the second conveyor moving at a linear rate slightly in excess of the first conveyor to thereby stretch the piece of cloth and remove wrinkles.
 5. The hemming machine of claim 1 including unloading means adjacent said conveyor means and adapted to remove cloth pieces from the conveyor means.
 6. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein said unloading means include means to engage individual pieces of cloth and pull them from the conveyor means.
 7. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein stacking means are located adjacent said unloading means and adapted to receive and stack the cloth pieces into a bundle.
 8. The hemming machine of claim 7 wherein said stacking means include means to over turn each cloth piece onto the bundle and means to periodically unload each bundle from the stacking means.
 9. The hemming machine of claim 7 wherein said stacking means include automatic means to sense the receipt of a cloth piece and actuate the stacking means.
 10. The hemming machine of claim 5 wherein said unloading means include automatic means to sense the passage of a cloth piece and actuate the unloading means. 